The present disclosure relates to an improved line guide assembly for fishing rods.
Line guides are employed to control movement of fishing line along the length of a fishing rod during use. Over the lifetime of the fishing rod, fishing line is cast and retrieved through the guides thousands of times, bringing with it moisture and particles from the environment. This repeated movement of the fishing line through the guides commonly results in abrasive wear on the inside circumference of the guides. It is common to employ rings of very hard material such as ceramic to define the inside circumference of the guides to improve resistance to wear. The extreme hardness of the wear resistant ceramic rings complicates manufacture of the rings and assembly of the rings to a support that positions the guide above the surface of the rod. The ceramic rings also tend to be very brittle, so the use of lightweight or complex sectional shapes is not practical. It is common for the rings to be secured to the support by an adhesive, which fails upon repeated flexure and causes the rings to pop out. The frame that supported the wear resistant ring is typically left with exposed edges and remnants of the adhesive that tend to cut fishing line, making the rod unfit for use until the damaged guide is replaced,
Typically, each rod carries five to fifteen such guides as well as a tubular top member and hook keeper. These components vary in size and weight to accommodate the intended use of the fishing rod. Fishing enthusiasts generally prefer components of smaller size or gauge and of reduced weight. Unfortunately, lighter gauge material also is more susceptible to distortion, bending and breaking unless the rod is carefully handled. For example, when packing or transporting the rod it is possible to bend the fishing line guides inadvertently or accidentally, requiring that the guides be straightened, typically by cold working which tends to increase the brittleness of the material and therefore reduces the usable life of the guide component. In many cases the distortion of the conventional guides and tops is caused by the rod getting caught on branches and trees when walking through the woods and brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,065 describes line guides manufactured from super-elastic shape memory alloy material. Such line guides are extremely durable and resistant to deformation due to the superelastic properties of the Nickel Titanium (NiTi) alloy materials. These line guides have gained significant acceptance among fishermen.